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Sunday, January 31, 2016

This week I am continuing with my Finish Your Unfinished Objects Challenge. And working with the Anniversary theme, the fifth week extra entry theme is wood. So, pull out any unfinished project that wood or paper (paper's made from trees too!) and tell us about how you are going to finish your project. It could be a paper craft, home décor, etc.
Since we are almost into February and most of this week will be in February, any entries for this weeks challenge will go towards February's prize. Please look for the info on February's prize tomorrow on the First!
To enter the prize drawing use the InLinkz below, or visit our Facebook Group and post there.
Pictured above is one of my projects made with wood. My boys are always finding rocks and sea glass on the shores of lake Michigan and I wanted a place for them to store their treasures. Find the details here.

Sunday, January 24, 2016

This week I am continuing with my Finish Your Unfinished Objects Challenge. And working with the Anniversary theme, the fourth week extra entry theme is Fruit and Flowers or anything plant related. So, pull out any unfinished project that involves flowers, fruit and or plants and tell us about how you are going to finish your project. It could be a paper craft, home décor, etc. Finish a fabric project, jewelry, paper, or just plan this years garden and get an entry! Scroll down two posts to enter January's challenge and get an entry for the Creative Memories cup holder.

Sunday, January 17, 2016

This week I am continuing with my Finish Your Unfinished Objects Challenge. And working with the Anniversary theme, the third week extra entry theme is Leather. So, pull out any unfinished project that involves Leather and tell us about how you are going to finish your project. It could be a scrapbook with a leather cover, cleaning the shoe closet, going through your handbags, or punching an extra hole in your belt so it fits again. And since crafting with leather is not common, I'm accepting entries with item traditionally are made with leather, so make a purse, or a shoes themed item out of paper, yarn or fabric for an entry too! Or make a boot cuff like the one I made above to go with your leather boots! Want to know how to make a boot cuff from an old sweater? Visit my blog post on these boot cuffs here.
I am accepting entries all January and will pull a winner at the end of the month for a Creative Memories Cup holder (like the photo below). Visit last weeks post below to post your entry link.

Sunday, January 10, 2016

This week I am continuing with my Finish Your Unfinished Objects Challenge. And working with the Anniversary theme, the second week extra entry theme is Cotton. So, pull out any unfinished project that involves fabric and tell us about how you are going to finish your project. It could be a sewing project, a decorating project (curtains, pillows, sheets, etc.) or maybe you just want to clean the linen closet. I am accepting entries all January and will pull a winner at the end of the month for a Creative Memories Cup holder (like the photo above).
For many people, an Unfinished Object exists because they ran into a design issue or creative block. so this week I am sharing some tips on overcoming creative block:
1) Take a break from your UFO. Ok, if it is in your UFO, you have probably had a break, but if it's a relatively new project and you are stuck, give yourself permission to set it aside for a few days. If you are like me, out of sight means out of mind, so if it is important for you to finish your UFO, make a note on your calendar of your follow up date, on the day you start your break! After your break, look at the object with fresh eyes and ask yourself what does it need or what is it missing.
2) Get some new inspiration from a creative source like Pinterest, Houzz, your favorite challenge blog, your favorite artists blog, etc. Visit a site, a store showroom, or a museum, or check out a book and look at similar projects if possible. Ask yourself, what you love about the finished objects you see and if you can use any ideas from these artists to finish your project. If you can't find a similar project, just review some favorite finished objects and ask your self what you love and can you incorporate it in your object.
3) Ask an expert or an artist whose style and taste you admire how they might solve your design dilemma.
4) Use a new gadget or tool to get it done. Some artists are inspired by new gadgets or tools, so get out your newest tool and use it to inspire the finishing of your UFO!
Hope these tips help you with your creative challenges that keep you from finishing your UFO! You can join the challenge in my Facebook group or using the InLinkz below.

Friday, January 1, 2016

I started a Finish Your UFO Challenge Group on Facebook. If you are thinking about New Year's resolutions that involve finishing a project this group is for you! I am hosting this for fun and to keep myself accountable to finish all my own Un Finished Objects. This is not to promote or sell anything, just for fun! Please feel free to invite friends to join us. Also I have made this private, in case your un finished object is a gift. Only group members will see your posts.

I will have a weekly challenge, loosely based on traditional gifts for anniversaries. For example, week one's challenge is to finish a paper project. Along with the challenges, I will have a monthly prize for anyone who participates in the challenges for that month. To prove you have participated in the challenge, you must post a photo and short description of your UFO or hopefully a finished project! As part of my efforts I will be sharing sometips on getting things finished or asking you to share your tips with the group. And you don't have to finish your project to get a weekly entry, just share how you worked on your UFO and post a photo!

Challenge #1: PaperThis weeks Challenge is to Work on a Paper project! For example, one of my current UFO's is the Laura Dennison Design's Nativity. Laura's Nativity is pictured above and she offers kits and patterns for her designs at her website The Paper Trail. I still need to make 8 camels, 24 wise men, 16 sheep, 8 angels and 8 stars for next Christmas' gifts. Since this is a big project I am going to break it into smaller pieces and setting a monthly goal. That's 64 pieces over 12 months, so I need to get at least 6 figures done a month to finish in time. Since I am making 8 of each figure, I will set my monthly goal as all eight of one figure a month. So, my goal for this week is to cut my Camels. I need to know if I need more paper as this is an older kit and my camel will take the most paper. So, I am starting with my biggest figure.

To be entered into this months prize drawing, please make sure to post your paper project by Saturday, January 9th, 2016 on the Facebook Group.

Want to join the Facebook Group and join the challenge? Just send me a friend request and after we are FB friends, PM a request to join the group. Stop by for my next post to see your weekly tips to get a project finished! And since I also love reading and this is a paper challenge, I am allowing group members to finish a book this week and post their review for an entry. Please share a link to the book and let us know if you liked it if this is your entry for the challenge! You can make a card, a scrapbook page, a mobile, or any project you might use paper in. Wall papering a room or adding border is accepted too! And don't forget this is to help us finish a project, and sometimes a project is more than creating. You can enter this week by organizing some of your paper! So, go through your paper stash, or clean out your file cabinet. As long as it is a project that involves paper, you can enter.